The Spirit of Insight & Awakening

INNER DIRECTIONS is a nonprofit organization dedicated to sharing the heart of authentic spirituality through a unique selection of articles, stories, poems, sacred texts, plus digital audio and video—all of which point to the direct immediacy of our true nature.

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Latest Articles

Bearing and Understanding-We have been taught since the beginning of western classical metaphysics that what is is to be understood in terms of itself or as a substance, a constant; its cause is a constant also, whether we term it “God” or “Being” (with a capital B). This reduction of things to their virtual atomic, constant identity […]

Ellam Ondre: Chapter Two – “You”-This small but extraordinary book, consisting of six chapters, was written in the 19th century and has been translated from Tamil into English. The author is unknown. It was referred to by Ramana Maharshi in discussions with some of his devotees. There is a specific reference to Ellam Ondre that appears in Annamalai Swami’s biography, […]

The Purest Teaching Is Silence-In the silence of the heart, God speaks. —Blessed Mother Teresa of Calcutta The purest teaching is silence. This will be the briefest of chapters in this book because it arose quite simply out of one of the morning times of silent stillness and peace. It would seem incongruous to make many words and concepts […]

Perception Happens-No origin, nothing there: that’s just how it is. Perception doesn’t arise or vanish. When you make it more than that, It’s like making form out of what is formless: You lose touch with what is natural. How reactive you become! —Verse 3.2 There is something wonderfully tenacious about the human proclivity to name an […]

Overcoming the Obstacles to Awakening-Becoming present is remarkably simple. However, remaining present is not so simple. Even if we are present for a short time, most of us are quickly pulled back into the past and future world of the mind. There are a number of obstacles that we must become aware of if we are to awaken fully […]